“Thank you, sir,” he replied despondently.
“I know how much y’all are hurting right now, but you must take great care of Madi.”
Brett couldn’t recall how many times he’d heard that in the last few days, as if he didn’t intend to do exactly that. He’d known what he had to do the minute he saw Madi in the ER waiting room, the minute she’d seen the look of despair on his face, the minute he’d caught her in his arms.
The look Madi gave Brett when she entered the automatic doors of the ER tore his heart right open. She ran to him and looked into his face. He knew he was as white as a ghost—his friend had just died minutes before as he’d held his hand. Hunter had been in such pain, professing his past transgressions, and making Brett promise all sorts of things as he lay dying in a pool of his own blood.
Brett grabbed Madi as she fell to her knees before him. She breathed in and out rapidly as she bowed her head. “Oh, God! He’s gone, isn’t he?” She felt like putty in his arms, her voice ragged, on the verge of breaking.
“I’m so sorry, Madi. I…I don’t even know what to say.”
Hunter had wanted Brett to drive the brand-new McLaren he’d just bought. A ridiculous car, but Hunter was proud of it and wanted to show it off. Brett had obliged.
The next thing he remembered was a deafening roar and screeching as time seemed to stand still. He remembered not being able to hear right away then assessing the situation: seeing Hunter crushed into the dashboard and thinking he was dead, right then and there; seeing red—so much red blood—and realizing Hunter wasn’t moving. The next thing he recalled was calling out for help, getting out of the car to find someone, the fear, trying to figure out what to do, praying, pleading, watching as the firefighters used the jaws of life to get Hunter out, the ambulance ride, the guilt, trying to save face as the EMTs worked on his friend…
Then—sitting next to him, telling him that everything was going to be ok even though Brett knew in his heart it wasn’t going to be “ok”—the guilt. The conversation in the trauma bay after the doctor told Brett that nothing could be done to save him, that it was too late—regretting that it was too late—watching the light fade from Hunter’s eyes… The guilt, the ultimate guilt.
“…so just turn to God in this time of need as He can hear your prayers and knows what you need before you even ask Him for it,” Reverend Young stated, giving a weak smile as he patted Brett on the arm.
Brett came harshly back to reality and just nodded his head. The flashbacks were taking a toll on him. He inhaled deeply and moved behind Madi who spoke to Travis Redmond, Skyla Larson, Lincoln and Valeria Porter, TJ Rawlins, and Paxton Guthrie. Brett nodded solemnly to his teammates, the two women, then gently took Madi’s elbow with one hand, covering her with the large umbrella he’d been holding the entire time with the other. He pulled her into his side, tightly holding her as they walked in the direction of the road.
No words were spoken as he and Madi’s mother, father, and sister headed toward the car. Brett held the umbrella over her as she stepped robotically into her father’s Buick then slid in beside her, closing the umbrella and placing it on the floorboard next to his leg. She fell into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her and sobbed into his shoulder as she’d done for the last three days. His heart broke once again. Oh, how many times can a heart break? he wondered again for the umpteenth time. It was as if the breaks simply got deeper and more painful as each piece re-broke over and over again.
He looked over to Brooke—Madi’s sister, who was seated beside them—and frowned. Brooke just shook her head and looked away, propping her chin on her arm; she gazed out the window as a tear fell down her cheek. Madi’s dad, Jerry, who sat in the driver’s seat, caught his eye in the rear-view mirror, exhaled, and started the car. He simply stared ahead. Brett noticed the tears in the man’s eyes as he turned his head to look at his wife. Amelia, Madi’s mother, shifted her position in the passenger seat and reached out to take Madi’s hand. She gently squeezed and Madi returned it. Amelia frowned, tearfully looking up to Brett. He just gave her a weak smile.
These people were his family, every single one of them. His parents were best friends with Madi’s parents. They’d all been as close as two families could’ve been. He’d always treated Madi’s mom and dad as his second mom and dad. And now, they’d lost one of their own.
The silence was deafening as they rode back to Madi’s house. Only the pounding rain and wind seemed not to take the hint. Brett passed Madi a tissue from the center console and looked ahead as she sighed, blew her nose, and tried to calm herself. He simply sat, stroking her hair and arm in comfort.
It wasn’t long before he closed his eyes, and all at once, they were pulling into Madi’s garage. They all got out silently, Brett taking Madi gently from the car and cradling her against his side as they walked into the house. Stepping through the mud room, Madi placed her handbag on the side counter and kicked off her shoes, sniffling as she went. She broke away from Brett as they entered the kitchen then stopped at the counter, seeming to be at a loss for what to do and where to go from there, staring off into space. Brett slipped his jacket off and placed it on the back of one of the kitchen stools, watching her the
